Invention:
The inventors have demonstrated attosecond switching speed in a light field-induced phase transition of a dielectric system. This switching occurs under ambient conditions and provides for data encoding by synthesized laser pulses. This technology may be used for ultrafast optical-based switches and data transfer with petahertz speed and optical transistors.
Hui et al, ScienceAdvances, 22Feb2023, Vol 9, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adf1015
Background:
Modern electronics are founded on switching the electrical signal by radio frequency electromagnetic fields on the nanosecond time scale, limiting the information processing to the gigahertz speed. Recently, optical switches have been demonstrated using terahertz and ultrafast laser pulses to control the electrical signal and enhance the switching speed to the picosecond and a few hundred femtoseconds time scale.
Applications:
- Petahertz Optical switching
- Optical transistors
- Quantum electronics
- Synthesized waveforms and measurements with attosecond resolution
Advantages:
- Attosecond resolution
- Readily available dielectric
- Room temperature operation
